I teach because I have to. In all the jobs I've had to pay my way through life, only teaching has (as of today) not left an empty feeling. This is my calling; and sometimes I feel that I chose to teach as much as teaching chose me.
*Note: The thoughts expressed here are my own and not intended to represent the school or district I work for.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

A Recipe

Ingredients:1. All Washington state sophomores.2. No Child Left Behind3. High Stakes Test: WASL4. School districts with money to lose.5. Superintendants with jobs to lose.

Process:Place the sophomores on a platter, add some yeast, and allow them to grow. In a large bowl, say a major Washington city, combine No Child Left Behind laws with the High Stakes Test (WASL). Stir repeatedly and often, allowing for all types of subtelties to rise to the surface. Let sit in the open air for all types of bacteria to potentially grow. In a sepatarte bowl, smaller than the first, dice up school districts with money to lose and superintendants with jobs to lose. Place these two in ingredients into a high-pressure cooker for 2-3 years. Allow for these two ingredients to blend themselves nicely, creating an aroma of trickery and semantics. Next, pour the school districts and superintendants into the bowl with the NCLB and WASL. Mix together and watch them separate out. Finally, pour the sauce over the individual sophomores. If you have inadequately applied the yeast (instruction) your sophomores will not be ready to absorb the sauce.

2 Comments:

I find this very interesting. In my state, we have been doing this for quite some time--students have a certain number of credits required before they achieve sophomore, junior or senior classification. Our state graduation test takes place in junior year. However, we haven't gone so far as to let it affect their placement in the yearbook (that's a local school, actually yearbook, decision). What makes sense to me is that students be classified based on the credits they've earned, not just the number of years they've served. However, I have no idea how it impacts their performance on that all important, NCLB make-or-break graduation test. I do know that the majority of our kids pass our test on the first try. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in your district.